
Arkansas 
History Commission 

AND ITS WORK 




By 
DALLAS T; HERNDON 

Secretary 



Address prepared for the Forty- Fourth Annual Session 
of the Arkansas State Teachers' Association,' Decem- 
ber 27, 28, 29, 1911 Little Rock, Arkansas 



r^o^l 



0. GF u- 
OCT 23 1914 



Arkansas History Commission 
AND ITS WORK 



I am glad of the opportunity to speak to this audi- 
ence which is representative of the highest intellectual 
cultivation in the State. In accepting the invitation I 
am conscious of the responsibility of taking up your 
time on this occasion. But I feel at liberty to accept the 
courtesy as a tribute of genuine interest in the cause 
it is my privilege to represent. Taking this view of 
your action I am not open to the charge of lacking in 
modesty when I tell you that what I have to say is 
worthy of your careful consideration. As the repre- 
sentative of the History Commission it is eminently 
fitting that I call upon all public spirited citizens for 
endorsement and co-operation. You must agree with 
me that the Commission has for its aim the achieve- 
ment of results which are bound to appeal to our pa- 
triotism, to our intelligence and to our pride in the 
progress of practical education. 

There is a fine opportunity for service in con- 
structive research in the local history of this State. 
Such a service is certain of its own reward, the self- 
satisfaction of having contributed something of per- 
manent value to the general welfare. Again, Arkan- 
sas possesses two geographical distiiictions which 
ought to stir the imagination of the student of South- 
ern history, one who has native pride in presenting 
the evidence for a better understanding of his own 
section. In the first place, Arkansas was a part of tb^e 
Confederacy. At the same time, without detracting 



from its character as a Southern State, it is a part of 
the great West. The combination of South and West 
should make an inspiring theme for one who is inter- 
ested in historical investigation. 

There is something in the social life and the per- 
sonality of the Southern people which the severest 
critic must admire. One who is born and reared 
in the atmosphere of that something never ceases to 
long for the charm of it, I believe. The picturesque 
individuality of the Western people is equally fasci- 
nating. The aggressive self-reliance of the Westerner 
is an irresistible force. His optimism is contagious. 
He is said to be the composite of all that is best in 
America, the typical American citizen. And I came 
to Arkansas in a frame of mind prepared to meet in 
the Southwest a people who combine the good quali- 
ties of both South and West, standing as they do mid- 
way between the two. 

The migration of Southern people and the advance 
of the Southern frontier westward has stamped an 
everlasting impress on the economic, social and politi- 
cal history of both South and Southwest. The un- 
ending stream of civilization pouring out of the older 
States and into the newer, has been a significant and 
constant factor in the solution of our national problems 
and in directing our national policies. The historian 
of today is realizing more and more the powerful and 
the far-reaching influence exerted by the develop- 
ment of the West on the destiny of the nation. It 
is universally conceded that the evolution of a uni- 
fied national state from a loose confederation of thir- 
teen independent states has been brought about large- 
ly by the gradual process of creating new states out 
of the national domain. Unlike the historian of an 
earlier day, who looked for the cause of every impor- 
tant event in American history to the long struggle be- 
tween the North and the South for supremacy in the 



—4- 



Union, it is common among present-day historians to 
lay the greatest stress on the ever-present silent forces 
tending towards imperial expansion along the Western 
frontier. 

Do not misjudge my motive in making these ele- 
mentary observations. I would not for one moment 
insinuate that you are not familiar with this attitude. 
I only remind you of it in order to prepare the way 
for what I have to say about a matter nearer home, 
that is the failure of the historian to weigh accurately 
in the historical balance the part played by the South 
and the' Southwest in the building of the nation. The 
new thesis of the scientific historian, European civili- 
zation as modified by contact with the western fron- 
tier, is fortified by a massive array of what we call 
contemporary source material. Nevertheless, the in- 
vestigations have been conducted almost wholly with- 
out reference to the data of local history in this sec- 
tion. Arkansas is yet in great measure an unexplored 
historical field. However fair-minded the general his- 
torian may be, so long as present conditions prevail, so 
long as we neglect our own local history, it will be 
impossible for historical writers to do justice to a sec- 
tion of the Union which is the equal of any other in 
matters of material progress, to a State which has con- 
tributed its full share to the political prestige of the 
United States as a whole. 

But I turn now to a question about which, we are 
all concerned as Arkansans, that is the collection and 
the preservation of Arkansas history, and, I think I 
may add, the cultivation of a finer appreciation of 
the subject generally. It may not be out of place in 
the outset to summarize briefly the successive steps 
in the development of the Commission, since it is the 
agent through which the above results are to be se- 
cured. 

—5— 



As it is now organized the History Commission 
was established in 1909, by act of the General Assem- 
bly. But you may remember that its origin was at a 
somewhat earlier date. It grew out of the realization of 
a public responsibility. It is the natural result of con- 
stant necessity for systematic methods in the conserva- 
tion of local and state history. As the bn-thday of this 
progressive movement to discharge a public duty, to 
preserve the records of a great commonwealth and its 
people, I shou'd take the day on which was cigan- 
ized the Arkansas Historical As.sociation. I can not 
express too emphatically my appreciation of the work 
already done and now being done by that association 
of intelligent workers. And I feel, in this connection, 
it is proper to call the name of Prof. John Hugh Rey- 
nolds of FayetteviUe. The Association and the Com- 
mission will stand as a monumerst to his wisdom, to 
his scholarship and to his patriotic enterprise. There 
are others whose labors and sacriiices are worthy of 
the highest |>raise. You perhaps are better ?.cquamted 
with the Aork of these distinguished citizens, men 
and women, than I am and I need not, therefore, take 
up your time to go through the list. 

The first Commission was appointed under the ini- 
tial act of 1905. This act, however, was temporary 
and the Commission created by it was limited in its 
powers to a specific task. It was, to assist in the 
publication of the first volume of the reports of the 
Historical Association, and further to make a thor- 
ough investigation of the available historical source 
material in the State. Both duties were ably per- 
formed. The results of the investigation were report- 
ed to the governor and by him to the General Assem- 
bly. So impressed was the State government by the 
report submitted that the temporary Commission was 
continued. After four years of diligent investigation 
and wise agitation the permanent Commission was 



established on a solid basis. Speaking of the service 
rendered by the temporary Commission, Professor 
Reynolds has well said, it "blazed the way and laid 
the foundation of a great work." To this statement 
of fact I want to add a word of explanation. It made 
possible the permanent Commission. It aroused sym- 
pathetic public sentiment. Live public opinion in fa- 
vor of the enterprise is the strongest possible proof 
of the service rendered during those four years of 
experiment. On the continued growth of such a 
sentiment will depend the sucecss and the usefulness 
of the permanent Commission. 

In my opinion the foundation of the permanent 
Commission is broad- and well laid. The construction 
of the act, the Commission's charter of rights and 
duties, bears the traces of a master hand guided by 
liberal public policy. After careful study of the statute 
it is clearly evident to me that at least three high ideals 
were uppermost in the minds of those who conceived 
the organization. These, as I shall style them, are ef- 
ficiency, permanency, and freedom from the embar- 
rassments of political afflliations. 

For the efficiency of the plan a great deal can be 
said in its favor. It is the application of a new theory 
of state aid. In spite of its comparative newness, its 
excellency, as a method of approaching the work to 
be done, is clearly evident from the experience of sev- 
eral Southern states. The main features of the plan 
have had about a dozen years of practical application. 
In the hands of skilled experts it has yielded returns 
of the greatest scientific value. 

Appropriation by states for the maintenance of 
state historical societies is an old and more or less 
common practice. A number of the states have dealt 
successfully with their historical materials in this way, 
that is, through what may be called a subsidized 
historical society. But the mechanical structure of 



such an organization seems likely to be complex. It 
does not, perhaps, combine ease of administration with 
a clear definition of powers and duties. 

On the contrary, a legally created commission or 
department can be granted large and definite powers. 
The plan is a flexible one. Its organization is simple. 
Administrative control is direct. Competency and 
vigorous application can easily be had. 

Moreover, the field of the historical society should 
be separated from that of the commission or state 
department of archives and history. A state should 
have both. The one should be the complement of the 
other. In other words, there should be a regular 
department or commission to take care of the public 
archives and other records. There should be also an 
incorporated association of persons for the purpose of 
promoting constructive research in local history? 
Fortunately Arkansas has both. 

Our Commission is similar in organization and 
purpose to what may be very properly called the 
Alabama plan. The department of archives and his- 
tory in Mississippi and other Southern states was 
doubtless a conscious imitation of the Alabama depart- 
ment. And in every state where it has been tried the 
departmental or commission system has met with 
greater success than its most enthusiastic friends 
had anticipated. The work being done is apprecited 
by the scholar, and, what is equally important, it is 
rendering service which the people of those states ap- 
preciate. Arkansas shall have like results. 

No one will question the fact that history should 
be an unbroken portrayal of men and things as they 
are. To make it so, a work of the sort entrusted to 
the Commission, should be continuous throughout the 
life of the community. Every day's record in the life 
of a state has its place in the life of that state. We 



are what we are today, in part, because we were what 
we were yesterday. The Hfe of a state, like the Hves 
of the individuals who make up the state, is a relative 
thing. To understand the composition and the ten- 
dencies and the aspirations of its people one must 
analyze the successive stages by which the community 
grew into an organic body-politic. The lost records of 
a year or even of a day make a missing link in the 
chain which connects the past with the present. A link 
so lost may be costly in the economy of social progress. 
The only logical time to save such a record is in the 
making. Thus permanency in the institution set apart 
to take care of our historical records is of the very 
first importance. 

I have a mind to pass over without comment that 
feature in the structure of the Commission most grat- 
ifying to find in an institution of its kind. That is to 
say, according to my interpretation, it was the inten- 
tion of the originators to free it and to keep it inde- 
pendent of all political affiliations. There is every- 
thing to gain and nothing to lose by strict adherence 
to that policy. It is the A-B-C principle in the train- 
ing of the student of history. Without it history is a 
misnomer. An advocate cannot be a fair historian; 
a partisan is an impossible historian. The custodian 
of a state's historical sources should be impartial in 
his judgment of men and affairs, unswayed by per- 
sonal bias in his estimate of historic values. The ideal 
must be to reveal the truth, the whole truth and noth- 
ing but the truth in the materials handed down to pos- 
terity. The complete separation of this work from 
practical politics is essential to any sort of suc- 
cess. 

By the creation of such an institution Arkansas 
has taken a long stride forward. Be it remembered to 
our credit that few of the states have so wisely 
planned for the conservation of the records af their 



development. The sound and progressive character 
of the system inaugurated may go far to counter- 
balance tardy action. Consequences of vast impor- 
tance are bound to follow this movement to atone 
for past negligence. In the near future we shall be 
in a better position to study and to know our past, 
and the knowledge gained will surely bear fruit in a 
higlier order of citizenship, in a finer appreciation of 
social responsibility, in a more rational settlement of 
the confounding complexities of modern society. 
Again, the contribution of the Southwest to 
national progress can be estimated at a figure near- 
er its true value. The general historian may work 
out -ew an2"les of observation by a thorough treat- 
ment of the material which we shall provide for his 
investigation. 

The function of the historian is three-fold. He 
should combine the skill of an investigator with the 
accuracy of a chronicler and the logic of an inter- 
preter. As an investigator he should explore the past ; 
as a chronicler he should keep a record of important 
events ; as an interpreter he should reason from cause 
to effect and point out the relation between transac- 
tions past and the status of existing affairs. He 
should not suft'er himself to become so absorbed in 
the details of the past that he has no thought for the 
meaning of current events and the dift'iculties which 
confront men of affairs in their economic, social and 
political relations of every day life. The field so 
marked out is a broad one. The requirements, doubt- 
less, are too great to be met by most of us. The limi- 
tations of human capacity, perhaps, have led most of 
our historians to confine their efforts to a narrow 
range of activity. In this way we may account for the 
fact that too much of our history is a mere chronologi- 
cal record dates and a colorless narration of events. 

But what I wish to speak of with reference to 
this narrow construction of the historian's function, 

— lO — 



and concerning the unsatisfying results of his work 
is the error which such Hmitations have lodged in 
the popular mind. There is more or less common 
opinion that the preservation of history is sentimental 
rather than useful, that a knowledge of history is or- 
namental rather than practical. This impression is 
doubtless the natural outcome of the historian's neg- 
lect, of a duty half performed. In other words, his- 
tory, as it is too often written, does not help us to 
solve the problems of every-day life. The histories 
with which we are most familiar only tell about such 
things as the discovery and the colonization of Ameri- 
ca, the war of independence, the rise and fall of po- 
litical parties, sectionalism, the battles of the war be- 
tween the states, and the rancor of reconstruction. 
The facts as told do not answer the practical ques- 
tion. What is the relation of all these things to pres- 
ent conditions ? It is a common saying that the pres- 
ent must be judged in the light of past experience. 
Yet, when we turn to our histories for helpful sugges- 
tions, which we have a right to expect, the light is 
usually missing. So it follows that we think of a 
knowledge of history as a sort of intellectual luxury 
of little practical utility, of the preservation of history 
as a fad rather than a useful science. 

I would not be understood to imply that history 
can solve all our social and political difficulties. What 
I do mean to say is that the present bears a close re- 
lation to the past, and that history should at least 
point out this relationship. Our problems of today 
are the outgrowth of development. They have their 
origin in the past. Social phenomena are never spon- 
taneous or accidental. In the treatment of physical 
maladies the medical scientist begins by diagnosis, by 
investigating the cause, the origin of the disease. Just 
so in the treatment of the body-politic or the social 
mass we must seek first the source of the evil and 



how the difficulty grew. Again, history has a lesson 
of optimism to teach. Every generation has its social 
problems, its political corruption, and its economic 
complexities for which mitigating remedies are found 
by those who have to grapple with them. And while 
history can not supply the specific remedy, it should 
instill the faith that Providence always fits the back 
to the burden. 

May I give a single illustration of how historical 
research may work out in the adjustment of practical 
affairs? The Federal Government was in operation 
thirty years before even the secretary's minutes of 
the Philadelphia convention were published. Madi- 
son's notes were not accessible for about fifty years 
after the convention. The proceedings of the several 
state ratification conventions were long neglected in 
some cases. Matters of the very greatest importance 
happened in connection with those events pertinent 
to the administration of the government under the 
constitution. Some of the facts are entirely lost. 
Calhoun's theories of nullification and state rights 
and Webster's logic on national unity rested on inter- 
pretations of the fundamental law of the land made 
without precise knowledge of many important facts 
in its historic setting. I am convinced by personal ex- 
perience that, had they known all the facts which are 
now known, had they been able to view the constitu- 
tion in the light of recent historical research on the 
subject, much error and many misunderstandings 
might have been avoided. Who knows but that rea- 
son and not the sword might have settled the long and 
bitter struggle between the two sections of our com- 
mon country? 

By the application of correct methods and plenty 
of energy in the administration of the duties laid upon 
the Commission the investment will yield profitable re- 
turns. I am prepared to assume full responsibility 
for my faith when I say that we shall get results capa- 



ble of being transformed into higher standards of liv- 
ing, public and private. It is investment with a fu- 
ture, with the promise of profitable rewards of the sort 
which command the attention of the busy business 
man. The day has arrived when those of us engaged 
in the arts of so-called private business can not ignore 
social, political and educational responsibilities. We 
can not afford to treat lightly the forces at work 
through the social sciences for the uplift of social, 
political and industrial standards. We can not afford 
to sneer at the historian's work as the hobby of a 
crank on the subject of antiquarian curiosities. Its 
practical value is already demonstrated in a thousand 
ways. When our own work has grown large enough 
to give proof of its possibilities of service to the 
general public and in the administration of govern- 
ment, we shall see in it a strong factor of social 
betterment and of public administration according to 
the principles of sound business. 

In this connection, however, I want to say, em- 
phatically, it is not the purpose of the Commission or 
their Secretary to write history. Our mission is to 
gather up the records of all our local and state activi- 
ties, past, present and future ; to preserve and classify 
these records; to make them accessible to the public. 
This and this alone covers our official duty with refer- 
ence to pure historical research. The writing of his- 
tory is, and it should be, a matter of private enter- 
prise. The work of the Commission is to be a means 
to an end. It is a public institution at the service of 
the historian, and it is hoped that through its offices 
he will be better able to fulfil the duties of his three- 
fold function to the community. The Secretary will 
cheerfully take it upon himself, even go out of his 
way wherever and whenever possible, to encourage, 
to direct, and to aid all persons who have the ambi- 
tion to attempt to do any part of the history of Arkan- 
sas. 

—13— 



With an institution of this kind moulded to our 
hand we expect to collect, to preserve, and to classify 
in the course of a few years most of the existing 
material for the history of Arkansas' developed re- 
sources. The collection should embrace, as far as 
possible, the contemporary sources covering every form 
of activity within the state from the earliest days. It 
should be kept at a point central to the entire state. 
It should be kept open to and convenient for the use 
of the general public at all times. Because of its vast 
value and because, like the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, it cannot be duplicated, every precaution should 
be taken against destruction or decay. And I doubt 
if any state in the Union has a place better adapted 
to the purposes than our new capitol. It will stand 
for ages, a monument to the progress of a patriotic 
people. It is eminently proper that we preserve in 
it for all time the records of our past, present and 
future achievements. 

IN CONCLUSION, let me sum up in cursory 
fashion the main features^of the task set the Commis- 
sion. In the first place it is manifestly their duty, in 
the person of the Secretary, to act as custodian of 
public archives. By the term archives we mean the 
official state and county records not in current use. 
Under this head is found such things as the documen- 
tary proceedings of our several constitutional conven- 
tions, the session laws, special ordinances, war records, 
messages and the official correspondence of the gov- 
ernors, and all manner of manuscripts and documents 
executed by the different departments of state no. 
longer essential in the transaction of ordinary busi- 
ness. • Each department, however, is made the sale 
judge, as I understand the provision, of the records 
which may be conveniently deposited with the Com- 
mission. It is also desired to supplement this material 
with county and municipal records, religious and secret 



-14— 



order publications, newspaper tiles and pamphlet 
publications descriptive of every phase of activity in 
the state. It is of the very greatest importance to en- 
liven this published material with the manuscript writ- 
ings and correspondence of our distinguished citizens 
dealing with public questions. If we could lay our 
hands on the news and views of all our distinguished 
men and women it would be a comparatively simple 
matter to write the history of the state. 

Secondly, the Commission is authorized to estab- 
lish an historical and archaeological museum. It will 
add much to the efifectiveness of the institution to 
have such a feature in close proximity to the collec- 
tion of archives. Here we shall preserve and exhibit 
in suggestive manner historic objects as the concrete 
evidence of the social, religious, educational, indus- 
trial and political life of the people in every period 
of the state's development. Doubtless the war period 
will be most prolific in material for this feature of 
the work. Since the war between the states is the 
supreme crisis in the history of the South, when our 
whole social system was revolutionized, it may well 
claim a large share of our attention. Again, the red 
man is not without interest, for the reason that his 
conquest and then his protection was until recently a 
question hard to deal with. Life on the frontier was 
always modified by his contact, and frontier life is a 
long romance in American history. Arkansas pos- 
sesses much mute evidence of Indian occupation. 
From his relics of the stone age, in which he lived 
until modern times, we may construct a picture of the 
domestic life of man in an age before civilization ap- 
peared on the face of the earth. Such an open book 
is full of human interest and educational value. 

And now, finally, I want to say a word in behalf 
of a hall of fame. While we would not, if we could, 
revive the customs of primitive hero worship, we do 

—IS— 



014 647 859 1 



believe in fostering a sense of gratitude to our patri- 
otic public servants. If history teaches any lesson, it 
is that the first stage of social and political disintegra- 
tion is seen in the decline of reverence for venerable 
institutions. The observance of such commands as 
"honor thy father and thy mother," revere the mem- 
ory of the benefactors of mankind, or emulate the ex- 
ample of the heroic patriot, is the rock bottom of 
moral, social and political stamina. The notable 
achievements of a people are always associated with 
the personality of a hero. It should be so. Otherwise 
the stimulating inspiration of personal example would 
be lost. I therefore commend the third proposition 
in the comprehensive scheme of this great work, to 
erect a hall of fame, where the physical likeness of 
Arkansas' distinguished citizens and beloved patriots 
may be carefully remembered. 



